A wide variety of apparatus for bagging articles has been proposed heretofore. Such apparatus is generally classified in class 53. Exemplary of the prior art, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,228,173; 3,412,522; and 3,552,090.
The prior art bagging apparatus is not readily adaptable for bagging food products since the apparatus is not constructed in a manner acceptable to governmental agencies such as the Department of Agriculture. The prior art is either too complex or not otherwise constructed in a manner whereby it may be easily cleaned and maintained sanitary in accordance with such requirements from a sanitary viewpoint. The prior art devices move the product to be bagged by a conveyor while supporting the stack of bags on a support which is limited to movement in an up and down direction, or otherwise are not readily adaptable for use in bagging food products such as frozen chickens. Some prior art bagging apparatus unnecessarily requires excess personnel or are complex so as to require substantial maintenance.
The bagging apparatus of the present invention includes a support structure on which is mounted first and second horns. The second horn is shorter than the first horn. A means is connected to the second horn for moving the second horn toward and away from the first horn. A carriage is supported on the support structure for movement toward and away from the horns.
The carriage is disposed below said horns at one end of its movement. The carriage is provided with means for supporting a stack of bags and for elevating the stack of bags as the bags are filled. Means including circuitry is connected to the second horn and the carriage for automatically cycling the same so that the carriage movement toward the horns causes the top bag to telescope over a portion of the horns as said carriage reaches said one end of its movement and then causes the second horn to move away from the first horn to thereby stretch the mouth of the uppermost bag. A means provided for causing the uppermost bag to open during the movement of the carriage toward the horns.
The apparatus of the present invention as described above is particularly adapted for bagging irregularly shaped food products such as frozen turkeys, hams, or other bulbous irregularly shaped products which are difficult to bag. The apparatus is preferably constructed in a manner so as to be simple for ease of maintenance while at the same time is made from stainless steel so that it may be easily cleaned and comply with sanitary requirements.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a bagging apparatus structurally interrelated to a novel manner adapted to facilitate bagging irregularly shaped objects.
It is another object of the present invention to provide bagging apparatus for bagging bulbous shaped food products in polymeric plastic bags while being structurally interrelated in a manner acceptable to governmental agencies with respect to packaging of food products.
Other objects will appear hereinafter.